Event 1
One of the largest fields in the four-year history of the WSOPC came to the felt for the start of the $300 No-Limit Hold'em tournament Wednesday. A prize pool of $317,100 was generated from the 1,056 runners who showed up for it, and 99 walked away from the event with something for their efforts.
After the final 38 players saw their ranks whittled down to a final table on Thursday, Andy Santiago held the lead with over $1.2 million in chips, and Lesley Thornburg was close on his heels with $1 million.
No one was prepared for the fireworks that would erupt as the final table played out. The action seemed to be fraught with oddities from the start when, with four diamonds on the board, Mike Santoro made a mistake that many poker players make at some point in their playing career.
Thinking he had the #Kd, Santoro called the all-in of Frank Panetta and, upon the cards turning up, saw that he actually had the #Kh. The costly blunder pushed Santoro out the door in eighth place.
Don Mercer suffered a bad beat at the hands of chip leader Santiago when his A-J was run down by Santiago's Q-4 to end his tournament in seventh place. Then the action at the table went further awry.
Thornburg had been warned twice earlier in the tournament for unsportsmanlike behavior. That being the case, everyone was quite pleased to see him get all his chips to the center with A-7, dominated by Santiago's A-Q.
A seven came on the flop, however, doubling up Thornburg and shooting him into the chip lead.
Thornburg eliminated Edward Sullivan in sixth two hands later by drawing out against Sullivan's pocket sevens with pocket fours. Then came the fireworks.
Thornburg, sitting with the chip lead, began again to indulge in the antics that had earned him the warnings on Wednesday. Tournament officials gave him another warning to keep his stack orderly and abide by the rules.
It wasn't until Thornburg pushed half of his stack to the center on a hand and then verbally declared himself all-in that the officials' patience finally snapped. For the first time in the history of the WSOPC, a player was disqualified at the final table and Thornburg was awarded a fifth-place finish.
Civility then took over the table as 45 minutes elapsed before Lee Ervin was ushered away from the table in fourth place. Having struck a deal for the rest of the prize pool, the remaining three players soldiered on to determine the WSOPC championship ring winner.
After six hours of madness, Frank Panetta and Andy Santiago (who had assumed the chip lead after Thornburg's disqualification) got their chips to the center of the table with Panetta's #Kh-#10h dominating Santiago's K-7.
When two hearts came on the flop and a third on the turn, Frank Panetta had captured the first event at the WSOPC. The final-table results were:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Frank Panetta | Brick, N.J. | $76,104* |
| 2nd | Andy Santiago | Bensalem, Penn. | $42,824* |
| 3rd | Todd Rebello | Oak Bluffs, Mass. | $25,368* |
| 4th | Lee Ervin | Staunton, Va. | $22,197 |
| 5th | Lesley Thornburg** | Richmond, Va. | $19,026 |
| 6th | Edward Sullivan | Durham, N.C. | $15,855 |
| 7th | Donald Mercer | Sneads Ferry, N.C. | $12,684 |
| 8th | Mike Santoro | Egg Harbor Township, N.J. | $9,513 |
| 9th | Francis Snyder | Philadelphia, Penn. | $6,342 |
* Does not reflect deal three handed
** Disqualified for unsportsmanlike behavior
Event 2
The $500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament that started on Thursday was, in contrast to Event 1, much more by-the-book. Five hundred players stepped up to the felt, and when the final table started on Friday afternoon, poker pro David Zeitlin (who won a preliminary event during the WPT Borgata Poker Open) led the field with $654,000 in chips.
The story of the tournament was the survival of the short stacks as players began to fall. Bryce Carroll-Coe, Jake Neff and Sarah Stohler, who were quite a distance back from chip leader Zeitlin, were able to drive deep into the tournament despite their low chip counts.
Neff was the hardiest of the lot as he eliminated Carroll-Coe in fifth place when Neff flopped a straight, and Stohler left in fourth.
Neff continued the charge as, with play three-handed, he was responsible for David Zeitlin's eventual elimination when his A-8 couldn't catch Neff's big slick.
With the action down to two players, Neff held over a 2-1 chip lead over Osborne. However, an hour into the match, Osborne was able to chip up and take the lead. Not long after that, he had the win.
The final-table results were:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Ryan Osborne | Seattle, Wash. | $72,500 |
| 2nd | Jake Neff | Philadelphia, Penn. | $38,250 |
| 3rd | David Zeitlin | New York City, N.Y. | $20,000 |
| 4th | Sarah Stoller | Washington D.C. | $17,500 |
| 5th | Bryce Carroll-Coe | Detroit, Mich. | $15,000 |
| 6th | Adam Steinback | Mechanicsville, Md. | $12,500 |
| 7th | John Doran | Woolwich Township, N.J. | $10,000 |
| 8th | Victor Johnson | Middletown, N.Y. | $7,500 |
| 9th | Artie Smith | Gastonia, N.C. | $5,000 |
Event 3
For the second time in this WSOPC schedule's first three days, an event drew more than 1,000 players. Event 3, $300 No-Limit Hold'em, attracted a throng of 1,056 poker enthusiasts to begin battle Friday for the top prize of $75,600 and the WSOPC gold and diamond championship ring.
Continuing his outstanding play from Event 1 (in which he finished third), Todd Rebello of Oak Bluffs, Mass., once again battled his way through a large field to make the final table. However, Rebello was able to take it all the way this time.
Full final-table results for this event were not available at press time.
Event 4
The first large-dollar buy-in tournament on this WSOPC schedule, the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament, boasted a large field size as well with 411 players coming to battle on Saturday for the $123,300 top prize.
The eventual winner of the tournament, Victor Bonavita, was the demolition man at the final table, eliminating seven of the other eight final-table players by himself.
In those knockouts, Bonavita was the favorite in four of the hands and drew out in the other three to take the championship.
The final-table results were:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Victor Bonavita | Bellmore, N.Y. | $123,300 |
| 2nd | Al Garver | Billings, Mont. | $66,171 |
| 3rd | Larry Nelson | Harleysville, Penn. | $32,880 |
| 4th | Stuart Elkin | Delray Beach, Fla. | $28,770 |
| 5th | Jason Goldman | Port Charlotte, Fla. | $24,660 |
| 6th | Tim Bryan | Centerville, Va. | $20,550 |
| 7th | Matthew Casterella | White Plains, N.Y. | $16,440 |
| 8th | James English | Tamarac, Fla. | $12,330 |
| 9th | Han Oh | Catonsville, Md. | $8,220 |
Action continues through the remainder of this week with four No-Limit Hold'em events ranging in buy-in from $200 to $1,000. Thursday will mark the start of the Circuit Championship Event which, with its $5,000 buy-in, should draw a considerable amount of interest from East Coast rounders as well as from some top professionals.
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Full Tilt allows more than one account for CardRunners players
Full Tilt Poker recently announced a deal with the Web site CardRunners.com that will have many of its top young poker players join the online poker site to play. The biggest news to come out of this, beyond the signing itself, has been a change ��...full article
Full Tilt Poker recently announced a deal with the Web site CardRunners.com that will have many of its top young poker players join the online poker site to play. The biggest news to come out of this, beyond the signing itself, has been a change to FTP policy to allow CardRunners players to have more than one account.
From pokerkingblog.com:
Full Tilt have announced that they will be making an exception to their “one account per player” policy. They will basically be allowing Cardrunner pros to use “alternate” accounts while they are filming their instructional videos. These “alternate” accounts would be used to disguise the true identities of the person behind the account, presumably so as not to influence the play of the other people at the table while the filming is taking place.
Also, Full Tilt goes on to say that at the end of the recorded session, all of the other players at the table will be notified by email as to what happened, and they will be rewarded with a “small token of appreciation” for their participation.
Lastly, Full Tilt states that anyone who loses money to the pro will be given “additional compensation”, but doesn’t say exactly what that would be. FTP points? A hat? Reimbursement of their lost funds? One can only assume that the player will not be getting their money back.
The possible problems are many, from FTP making exceptions to its own rules for pros, to regular players possibly feeling cheated because of playing against a “hidden” pro.
There has been quite a buzz on many poker forums about this issue, and a lot of questions about this policy change remain unanswered. Look for more as this story develops.
Congressman calls for details of WTO internet gambling settlement
In a move that could affect internet gambling, Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) asked the U.S. Trade Representative to disclose trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional approval, according to a press release issued by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. The move means ��...full article
In a move that could affect internet gambling, Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) asked the U.S. Trade Representative to disclose trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional approval, according to a press release issued by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.
The move means Congressional intervention may be on the horizon regarding internet gambling, perhaps voiding commitments the USTR gave to the European Union, among others. Previously, the U.S. had policies to keep European and other foreign internet gambling ventures out of the United States.
According to the release:
In a letter circulated to all members of Congress last week, DeFazio encouraged his colleagues to join him in calling for the USTR to provide a copy of the concession agreement between the United States and the European Union. The USTR had recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for the same document, claiming the agreement was classified for national security reasons. “There is a concern that the USTR may have been ambitious in its use of a ‘national security’ classification to avoid any publicity of which new business sectors are to be subject to the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) treaty,” said DeFazio’s March 6 letter.
And later:
Congressman DeFazio’s request is an indication that the Administration’s unilateral action to attempt to resolve the WTO Internet gambling dispute is in jeopardy. “Congress should have been consulted before the US agreed to these trade concessions,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “We hope that Mr. DeFazio’s colleagues will join him in demanding more transparency, communication, and consultation from the Administration on Internet gambling. A non-discriminatory market for Internet gambling in the United States will restore integrity to the international trading system.”
The request is the latest in a series of actions regarding U.S. policy toward foreign gambling interests.
According to the release, last year, Antigua successfully challenged the regulation of Internet gambling in the United States with the World Trade Organization. The European Union announced earlier this week that it will open an investigation into a possible international trade violation by the US on this issue.
Legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), if passed would change U.S. policy on Internet gambling — allowing regulation — and it would resolve the international trade dispute.
Net gambling opponent resigns as governor
Spitzer made a name for himself in New York fighting organized crime rings, like the prostitution ring he is accused of soliciting, while working in the Manhattan district attorney's office.
For eight years before becoming the governor, Spitzer was attorney general for the state of New York. While in office he won national recognition for landmark cases protecting investors, consumers, the environment and more. He took up civil actions and criminal prosecutions relating to corporate white-collar crime, securities fraud, Internet fraud and more.
Through his work as attorney general, Spitzer also became a very vocal opponent of online gambling. In 2002, Spitzer threatened banks involved with online gambling transactions with prosecution.
One result was that Citibank, one of the United States' leading credit card issuers, made an agreement with the attorney general's office to no longer process transactions with online casinos and other Internet gambling operations.
"Americans now waste $4 billion a year on this pernicious form of gambling," Spitzer said in a press release after the deal was made. "With this agreement, we will cut off an unlimited line of credit that was a jackpot for illegal offshore casinos."
Other law enforcement actions in the past had been directed at the online gambling entities. Spitzer's action was the first to target financial entities that process gambling transactions.
Noting that it is often difficult to prosecute online gambling companies operating in violation of New York and U.S. law, Spitzer said in the press release it's essential that financial entities such as banks and credit card companies do everything in their power to avoid facilitating "these illegal and harmful transactions."
In 2006, Spitzer ran for governor of New York based on a reform platform, promising to "change the ethic of Albany."
After winning the election, Governor Spitzer said in his inaugural address, "Every policy, every action and every decision we make in this administration will further two overarching objectives: We must transform our government so that it is as ethical and wise as all of New York, and we must rebuild our economy so that it is ready to compete on the global stage in the next century."
Spitzer's ethical house of cards came crashing down around him this week, however, when The New York Times reported he has patronized a high-class prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP, based in New Jersey, and that he met for more than two hours with a $1,000-an-hour call girl at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C.
The governor's liaisons with prostitutes were discovered after an investigation was initiated into his monetary affairs when his bank reported suspicious transactions to the IRS as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
According to Newsday, Spitzer split up more than $10,000 he wanted to transfer to an organization that turned out to be a front for the prostitution ring. Federal law requires the reporting of any transfer of $10,000 or more, so Spitzer split up the transfers.
He then tried to have his name taken off the wire transfers, which the bank refused to do, contending it would be improper and that the wires were already out anyway.
The bank reported the transactions as potentially suspicious activity, and the IRS launched an investigation, initially believing they would find that Spitzer was the victim of extortion or perhaps find an imposter.
The case was later handed to the FBI for it to investigate possible political corruption, but FBI investigators linked the money transfers to the prostitution ring instead. Federal prosecutors charged four people operating the Emperors Club VIP last week, before the announcement of Spitzer's involvement.
When his involvement in the prostitution ring first came to light, Spitzer made a public apology for his conduct without ever mentioning the specifics of the scandal or giving any indication that he would resign.
Since then, officials across the state of New York have been calling for the governor to resign or be impeached because of his actions. As a result, Spitzer announced his resignation today, effective Monday (March 17), to give the lieutenant governor time to make a smooth transition.
"Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself," said Spitzer. "For this reason, I am resigning from the Office of Governor."
His resignation doesn't put a stop to the controversy. There is still the possibility that Spitzer could face criminal charges for his actions, and he could also face disbarment.
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